As someone who would prefer to ignore the doorbell -- it's never a neighbor, friend or relative; it's almost always a religious solicitor -- I'm amused by the lengths Ed will go to in making sure he hears the doorbell calling. But that's what we love about the Gadget Freaks. The lengths they will go to in order to make life ever more interesting.

I like Ed's name for it. If he were a marketing type, he might call it the MagnaBell. But since he's an engineer, Ed calls it the RLD -- really loud doorbell. Nor does he say, "The pneumatic button strikes the pipe at high speed." Instead, he says the pneumatic button "beats the heck" out of the pipe. Ed gets my vote as common sense marketer of the year.

Seven years ago I had a smilar problem in my noisy machine shop. So I replaced the wired doorbell button with a wireless doorbell transmitter from my local hardware store. I also bought two receivers which plug into any wall outlet. There is one in the house and one next to the mill which can be heard even while the mill is running at 2400 rpm. I can also unplug the receivers if I want privacy or suspect bible salesmen are on the loose. This all cost around $39.

But I doubt this system can duplicate to Old World "CLANG" of the RLD

Much less the shock and vibration felt throughout the entire building structure...

Sorry to overly simplify the problem.

Perhaps this is a question of Analog vs Digital

This might also work for the National Acronym Society of America - NASA

Astronauts when done with their spacewalk may have to ring the RLD to get the other astronauts attention and get back in...

Very nice. I did not want to go crazy with sound, so I just added a small amp to the door bell and a small relay to turn on/off a halogen bulb. Still works great. it just shines directional beam ( actually 2 bulbs) to two ends of a shop, and everyone knows about new visitors at the door. Easy but not advanced.

Thanks for the comments. I forgot to mention that there is a mode switch by the front garage door that allows mw to select between the RLD or a more humane conventional door bell. When I'm net running loud machinery, I can choose between the two or turn both off if I want to go into stealth mode... :) I also have quite a bit of X10 style remote controls and cameras as someone mentioned. The problem I have is that the VFD on the mill puts out a lot of power line noise so the house wiring type of remote controls don't function when the mill is running. And yes, it has an isolation transformer... :)

My son ran an orthotics shoe machine shop and asked me for a door bell.

SO I used a smoke alarm muted with tape, and a door switch wired to the alarm switch. Of course an inexpensive piezo device, and dc source is cheap. Same can be done for phone ringer. but Lights work well.

Followers of Design News’ Gadget Freak blogs will have the opportunity next week to take home a wireless remote demo package that can be used to build garage door openers, tire pressure monitors, keyless entry systems, and much more.

The 2015 Gadget Freak of the Year goes to the DDV-IP -- or, a Drink Deliver Vehicle – Inverted Pendulum. The gadget is a two-wheeled self-balancing robot that can deliver cold beverages to thirsty folks on a hot summer day. A wireless RF remote enables manual control of the device beyond the act of self-balancing. All of the features of the DDV-IP result in an effective delivery vehicle while providing entertainment to the users.

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